


Southern Winds

by junmyeon



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-16
Updated: 2015-04-16
Packaged: 2018-03-23 05:53:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3756901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junmyeon/pseuds/junmyeon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sehun doesn’t remember a time when men were at peace with dragons. Boys become soldiers and Sehun quietly accepts. Too bad his destiny decides that he’s more than that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Southern Winds

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Minor character death, very briefly mentioned prostitution

_When you close your eyes, do you recall a time when we were one?_

_A time when you could do more than walk on your two legs, a time when you were able to soar above the common people with wings outstretched to the ends of the earth._

_There was a time when those you passed would turn to stare up at you in awe because you were magnificent and powerful, when even the King himself would kneel before you, and you bowed to none but your brothers._

_When you close your eyes, Oh Sehun, do you remember?_

➹➷

Sehun wakes to the sound of screaming. His arm is a blurred out shadow, outstretched and grasping at something, nothing, desperately.

All around him, Sehun is able to hear the cluttered footsteps of too many people in too small of a space, fellow trainees who had reacted quickly to the commotion, scrambling to their feet only to crash into each other and off the walls. 

"What's going on?" Sehun mutters to no one in particular. "Another surprise midnight drill?"

No one answers, but Sehun hadn't expected one. Jongin -- who sleeps on the bunk below his -- can't possibly still be there; he's probably one of the idiots running around in the dark. 

For a moment, Sehun considers getting off his safe position on a top bunk to maybe drag Jongin out of the panicking mass of trainees to find out what's going on, but before he's able to reach a decision, the door to the barracks are thrown open with its customary _bang!_ and the light from a single hand-held lantern pours inside. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Sehun sees Jongin lying with his stomach pressed onto the ground, the rest of their little group lying on top of him. Sehun has to scoff a little, Chanyeol's lying at the very top of their little human mountain and he is undoubtedly also the biggest of the bunch. 

"And, what exactly happened here?" The voice from the door draws Sehun's attention away from his friends and as his eyes locks on the figure at the door, he hears the last of the whispers die away. "Cadets, are you not satisfied with the generous eight hours of sleep we have allowed you tonight?" 

No one answers. 

"Well?" their commanding officer demands and Sehun hears a movement from the other side of the barracks and Chanyeol's unmistakably deep voice cursing as he tumbles off the mountain. 

It's completely unsurprising that it's Joonmyun who tumbles out of the tangle of arms and legs and snaps to attention. 

"Nothing sir," he says, looking amazing composed for someone wearing only his underclothes. "We are extremely grateful for the sleep that we have been generously granted tonight." 

Their commanding officer looks at them suspiciously. "Doesn't sound like nothing from the officer's barracks," he barks. "We could hear you girls screaming from there." 

From the little light thrown from the lantern, Sehun can see Joonmyun's cheeks colour at the slight and he bristles slightly at being called a girl. 

"We--" 

"Jongin had a nightmare, sir," someone calls from the back and everyone's head snaps around to stare at Jongin. "He was screaming about attacking dragons in his sleep and we all panicked." 

The officer does not look pleased at the explanation. If anything, he looks even angrier. 

"That's it girls," he bellows. "Out, out, out!" 

The sound of grumbling boys getting onto their sleepy, tired feet fills the barracks. Sehun, too, groans as he lowers himself slowly to the ground, careful not to land on top of a fellow trainee and cause another small commotion. _Bloody Taemin,_ he thinks. _Too damn eager to get his best friend in trouble to think of the trouble it'd cause the rest of us._

"What is that I hear?" their commanding officer yells. His voice resounds off the wooden walls unpleasantly. It makes Sehun's head hurt. "Get out and run until your morning meal. No need to get dressed, go out as you are. Maybe it'll make you run faster." 

"Sir," a voice interrupts. Everyone goes still to listen. "My father will be visiting today and he's due to arrive sometime before morning." While it's common knowledge that Joonmyun is the perfect cadet who follows every instruction given by the officers, it is also common knowledge that his father is some important advisor to the King. "I don't think he'll be too happy to see me, running around camp in my underwear." 

"You--" The officer fumbles with his words, obviously flustered. "I--" 

Sehun tries to muffle his sniggers, and by the sudden eruptions of coughs and deep breaths that fill the room, he knows that he's not the only one. 

"Fine," the officer finally mutters. "Go back to sleep, but don't come running back to me when the dragons attack and you find yourselves too weak to move. They're a lot worse than what any of you girls could ever dream up."

The door slams behind him with a sharp _snap!_ and they wait quietly for the heavy footsteps to fade away. 

"Well Joonmyun," Jongin remarks, breaking the quiet after the last footstep had faded, "I don't think I've ever been so glad in my life that you suck his dick." 

Over the sudden hoots of laughter, Sehun can still hear Joonmyun protest indignantly. "I do not suck anyone's dick," he says.

"Really?" Baekhyun asks, every syllable sounding more suggestive than the one that preceded it. "Could've sworn I saw you--" 

"Shut up!" 

And so another night passes in the first barrack of the Southern Territory Training Camp, and Sehun falls back to sleep, basking in the sounds of his friends.

➹➷

No one is sure whether to be surprised or not when it's announced at one if their stiflingly uncomfortable morning gatherings that Joonmyun has been promoted to the rank of captain.

They're standing stiffly in formation when some Lieutenant General from the province capital bellows out his name and all he's done that he believes noteworthy-- which, by the sound if it, everything-- so Sehun zones out and tries to count the number of hairs on the back of Jongin's head. They’d tried whispering to each other once to bat away the boredom, but had been caught the third time and had to run laps of the camp after training that night until the next morning. Needless to say, it was a mutual decision for them not to talk again.

"Kim Joonmyun!" the Lieutenant General bellows out of nowhere, and Sehun's attention snaps back to the raised platform in front of them. 

From somewhere to the right of him, Sehun hears Joonmyun call out a "Yes sir!" in reply so he sneaks a glance over out of his eye. His head remains rigid, facing foreword. It's only an indication of how well they've been trained that they're all able to do this, to listen in silence. 

Joonmyun's hand is raised in salute as he steps forward, the perfect appropriate distance out of formation. Sehun continues to watch as the Lieutenant General steps off the platform with a small box in his hands. 

"Congratulations, Kim Joonmyun," he says. "After careful deliberation, you have been promoted to the rank of sergeant." 

Joonmyun receives the badge with both hands, his eyes shining.

No one questions how a cadet was promoted so many ranks. Everyone assumed his father had something to do with it.

One week later, Joonmyun is transferred to the Capitol for "further training." 

"Wish I had a rich and powerful father," Baekhyun sighs. "One that could whisk me off to the safety of the Capitol."

No one disagrees because only the army is between the Southern Territory Training Camp and the dragons.

➹➷

Post-Joonmyun life continues on and the hole he leaves behind in their little group starts to close up. Surprisingly, it's Jongin who falls into the "group leader" position that Joonmyun had vacated rather than Kyungsoo, as they had all expected. Although Sehun can't back away from the nagging suspicion that it’s really Kyungsoo who still rules from behind Jongin's larger frame.

"New cadets, fresh from the villages!" Chanyeol calls from outside. "They're in the assembly ground now." 

Sehun raises his head off his bed to hear him better. The chatter inside also quiets as they listen to what Chanyeol has to say. 

"We're to clean up and clear out," Chanyeol continues. "The senior cadets in the first barracks are being deployed." He pauses for a bit, then adds as if it had only just hit him; "We're the senior cadets now," he finishes. _We'll be the next to go._

So they pack their belongings as fast as they can ("Clean up? The new cadets can do that," Taemin says and then almost bangs his head on the hide of a bunk when Jinki tries to hit his shoulder), and move over to the first barracks. Sehun hasn't been inside before but according to Joonmyun, they were better furnished with actual rooms inside. 

The barracks are empty. The former senior cadets had already been deployed earlier that day. Trying not to think of how they will soon be occupying the beds of men who may or may not die in the next few months, Sehun races Jongin down the hallways, looking into every room to try the best one. 

In the end, they find two rooms at the end of the corridor: one with five beds, and the other with six.

Jongin runs into the room of five. "I'll save this room for Taemin and them," he says from inside. "You wait in there until the others arrive. 

Sehun spends the next five minutes testing out which bed is the most comfortable before dumping his small pack of clothes and other little personal trinkets --a few letters from home and an old book he'd found-- onto the bed. His new bed. Their new room. 

Training continues, but with an intensity that has never been seen before. Senior cadets no longer shoot arrows at dragon cut outs pinned to a tree; instead they are formed to aim while running backwards at a flying arrow with a small red banner attached. 

Sehun's sword isn't wooden as it was in his first year anymore, neither is it the blunted steel as it had been for the past few years. His sword is now made of sharpened obsidian; it's enough to slice someone else apart.

"Why do need to practise sword fighting so much?" Sehun whines as he plops down onto the group, gulping down long, well deserved mouthfuls of water. "We're going to be fighting dragons, not other people," he continues. Kyungsoo sits himself down neatly next to Sehun, making sure mud or dirt gets on his sword. Sehun looks down and sure enough, he had accidentally driven the point of his sword into and then across the dirt. 

"You still need to know how to use a sword." Kyungsoo shrugs, holding his hand out for the water bottle. 

"Where's yours?" Sehun asks, but hands it over anyway.

"Jongin's got it," Kyungsoo replies. "But he's over there sparring with Taemin." 

Sehun hasn't really been close to Jongin for a long time. Everyone used to fall into pairs for practise so easily, but now, it was an awkward matter indeed. Their group no longer had even number. Initially, Kyungsoo had paired up with one of the officers, a young looking man named Ryeowook and Sehun had continued sparring with Jongin and Baekhyun with Chanyeol, but then Ryeowook became busier and busier with training the new recruits. 

One day, Sehun had come to practise late. Kyungsoo had been waiting for him, sword already in his hand. "Jongin's practising with Taemin today," he had said, and that had been the end of it.

It's not as if Jongin's not his friend anymore; if anything, Jongin's become more invested in keeping their group together. Apart from practise, he spends every waking moment trying to rope them together with ridiculous bonding activities that Sehun swears Baekhyun and Chanyeol must have helped think up. 

It's stupid, but Sehun likes it too; balancing his old wooden practise sword on his head while trying to not knock someone else's off. Winner is the last one with a sword on his head and is free to ask one question to anyone he wants. 

It's a fun game, Sehun must admit. Through it, Sehun has discovered that Jongin used to cry a lot as a child, Chanyeol is scared of most women and Kyungsoo's mother wanted to dress him up as a girl the day recruiting officers for the army came to their village.

Life as a senior cadet, Sehun thinks, is harsh. Life as a senior cadet, Sehun thinks, is about growing up.

Another year passes. The day that they've been dreading arrives at last. 

"Cadets!" their commanding officer bellows. "Pack your bags, you're heading out to join the main army tonight." 

"But I want to sleep tonight," Sehun mutters into Jongin's ear. 

Jongin wraps an arm around Sehun's shoulder and reaches up to pat his head. In the last year, Sehun's grown taller. 

"Anyone who is opposed to travelling tonight," their commanding officer continues with a particularly venomous glare at Sehun, "can head off tomorrow morning by themselves without food, water, or anyone to guide." 

Jongin ruffles Sehun's hair again. "You still wanna sleep tonight?" he asks teasingly. Sehun elbows him in the stomach in response. 

The moment their commanding officer leaves, complaints break out. 

"You know," Kyungsoo suddenly cuts in. He doesn’t raise his voice or yell, people fall quiet to listen to him. "We're only travelling by night so there's less of a chance that the dragons see us." 

_Oh._

Everyone shuts up.

➹➷

Admittedly, travelling isn’t as bad as Sehun had expected. The two officers sent from the main army to guide them, Lieutenants Donghae and Hyukjae, are a surprising amount of fun.

Of course, after a few days of resting from dawn to early afternoon, it was going to be a pain to sleep at night again. 

Mother never would have let him live like this, his day turned upside down. She would have told him to sleep when it's dark and to wake when the sun does. Sehun wonders how his mother is doing, and if she's still trying to convince his father to sleep earlier everyday. 

Sehun wonders if he'll ever be able to go home again. Back to his little village just outside the Capitol walls where they farmed crops and energy from the wind to sell inside the Capitol walls. 

Their village was quaint, the paths were not paved like those in large cities but dirt flattened and compressed after years of use. The children dressed freely and laughed even freer, balancing themselves on the sides of the little man made streams they had dug around the fields while their mothers, fathers, aunts and uncles looked over them with fond smiles. 

Going to the Capitol wasn't hard either and Sehun would often go there sometimes with his father if they needed medicine or anything else that they couldn't get in the village. Once, Sehun went with a group of his friends, a group of little boys giggling in through the large gates and staring in wonder at all the places that their fathers had not taken them. 

Sehun misses his home.

"We'll arrive by dawn," Donghae says as he points forward. By the starlight, Sehun can see the shape of his arm and he follows its path into the distance where the stars are cut off by the jagged earth. "We've found a place in forest and we've cleared it up a bit, it's as safe as it gets in there." 

And sure enough, there is a patch of forest ahead and Sehun would have thought it impossibly large if he were not able to see what lay beyond. On the other side were empty fields and beyond that still, are the silhouettes of mountainous forests, rising up against the sky. Where the territory of men stopped and the land of the dragons began.

"What's up?" Jongin slings his arm around Sehun's shoulders. "You look a little gloomy tonight."

"Get off, you're heavy." Sehun tries to shrug the arm off, but it only grows heavier as Jongin pulls him closer. "How do you know if I look gloomy or not? I can't even see your annoying face right now." 

"My face is very handsome, better than yours at any rate," Jongin retorts playfully before pausing. His tone softens a bit and he's completely serious when he replies. "I don't know, you just seem a little sadder than usual." 

In the darkness, Sehun smiles. 

"I saw that," Jongin says. "You smiled!" 

"No I didn't," Sehun denies, but he doesn't attempt to stop. "Who would smile because of you?" 

"Everyone," Jongin says and Sehun attempts to elbow him in the ribs. 

"No one," Sehun emphasises.

➹➷

War is unpleasant and the army of men equally so. The forest clearing is not big and the boys are forced to cram together at night inside a common tent. There's perhaps five or six hundred of them, fresh cadets, ready to replace the ever growing casualties.

"Hey, you're from the South right?" A hand taps Sehun on the shoulder and he pauses mid-step. A boy around his age is smiling at him. His clothes seem cleaner and Sehun hasn't seen him around before so he supposes the boy to be one of the Capitol cadets who had only just arrived last week. Snobby, rich little brats they were, thinking they were above the others just because they trained in the Capitol. 

"What about it?" Sehun replies and his words come out angrier than he had intended. "So what if I'm from the Southern Territory?" 

The boy draws back his hands and shakes his head with a laugh. "No, no, I didn't mean it like that," he says, guessing the meaning behind Sehun's words straight away. "I'm Himchan," he continues and extends a hand for Sehun to shake. 

Cautiously, wary that this is some sort of joke by the cadets from the Capitol, Sehun takes the hand and gives it a slow shake before letting go. Their hands fall back to their sides almost immediately. "I'm Sehun."

"So Sehun," Himchan says, his voice airy, "I was wondering if you knew a Kim Joonmyun?" 

Sehun startles at the name. He hadn't heard it for almost years. There had been a fight a while after Joonmyun had left in which, after receiving a letter from home, Baekhyun called Joonmyun a rich bastard who bought everything in life. 

"Yes," Sehun answers slowly. "I knew him." 

"Excellent!" Himchan claps his hands together in excitement. "Could you take me to him? Or tell him that I'm here?" 

"What?" Sehun stares blanking. "To Joonmyun?" 

"Yes! We were friends for the time he trained in the Capitol," Himchan continues excitedly. "I haven't seen him since he went back to the South though." 

"Are you sure?" Sehun asks. "We never heard anything after he left." 

"Of cour--" Himchan cuts his sentence off as he catches on. "Wait, you mean he's not here?" 

"He never came back to the Southern Territory Training Camp," Sehun confirms. 

"Oh," Himchan says. "I was certain that he had said that he was going back South." 

"Maybe you remember wrong," Sehun replies. "None of us have seen him for years." 

"Yeah, maybe I did," Himchan says. "Maybe he crossed the Northern Border instead." 

It's the only explanation possible; all young men their age had been drafted into the army and the cadets from Capitol had been the last to arrive. If Joonmyun really had left the Capitol, he would be here. 

"Yeah, Joonmyun is smart. Maybe he crossed the northern border to study and his father didn't want anyone to know." Although it's a plausible possibility, Sehun's tone falls completely flat. He doesn't believe even his own words. 

"Yeah, maybe," Himchan nods. "It was nice meeting you Sehun," he says, "I should probably go to training now." 

Sehun waves. "See you around," he says. 

Himchan returns the gesture with a laugh and while Sehun still doesn't quite know him, in times like these, he really hopes that he'll be able to see everyone around again.

➹➷

It's not until months later that Sehun remembers his conversation with Himchan.

The dragons are truly terrifying, and every word that their commanding officer, every insult, said comes rushing back at him. Sehun sees that nothing had been exaggerated in the slightest. His knees had quaked and his body had been paralysed with shock when the dragons arrived, gliding over the battlefield from afar. The arrows barely scratched them, and the canons did not hit even one.

Suddenly, they were the first year cadets again, freshly recruited from their little village homes, not knowing one end of a sword from another. 

_See you around,"_ he hears himself say over and over again in his head. _See you around, see you around see you around,_ it echoes. 

Just how many people would he not be able to see around again? 

Wicked heat sears past the side of Sehun's face. 

“Sehun!” he hears someone, no, Jongin, yell. 

He feels himself falling back, falling down and now he’s breathing water down into his lungs. Sehun chokes, but he’s inhaling no air. 

He’s in the river being washed away.

➹➷

"Sehun?"

The whisper of his name comes with a dizzying shake of his shoulders. There's some there, next to him, trying to wake up. 

"Sehun!" 

There's the voice again, but it's louder now and there's a sense of urgency laced within his tone. Sehun doesn't open his eyes, but instead he focuses on the voice through his tired, waterlogged body. The voice is mild, strangely warm and unmistakably familiar. Someone from another squad? 

"Sehun," the voice comes again. "Wake up, we need to move." 

The voice is familiar, Sehun knows it. "Joonmyun?" he asks, opening an eye. 

And sure enough, it is Joonmyun in front of him looking wilder than he's ever seen. Gone are military uniforms and white dress shirts, Joonmyun's in a dark blue tunic and there's mud in his hair. 

"The battle is over," Joonmyun hisses. "You need to go back, now!" 

"But why are you here?" Sehun tries to ask. "You've been gone for--" 

"Not now." Joonmyun pulls Sehun to his feet. "You're in the forest, on the wrong side of it." 

Sehun stumbles onto his feet. He's in dragon territory. The river must have carried him right down from the battlefield and into the strip of forest. 

"Listen, the dragons have retreated back well beyond the forest for now," Joonmyun continues, dragging Sehun forward along with him. "I'm taking you to the edge of the forest now."

"How do you know that? Joonmyun, what have you been doing?" 

"Later." 

"Joonmyun." Sehun wrenches his arm out of Joonmyun's grip and folds them, standing stubbornly on the spot. "I met your friend from the Capitol, Himchan. He said you came back to the Southern Territory Training Camp." 

"That was a lie," Joonmyun replies. He stops as well, and turns back to look at Sehun. His eyes are harder now, as are all their eyes. The eyes of one who has seen things beyond their understanding and age. 

"Sehun," Joonmyun says again, his voice now soft. It reminds Sehun of the days, so many years ago when they were still cadets in training, getting into trouble and Joonmyun having to bail them out endlessly along with Kyungsoo. 

It reminds Sehun of a simpler time, when he could complain that the training was killing him without wondering how many times it had saved him instead. A simpler time when he could tell Jongin to go die after finding a frog in his bunk without wondering if he'll be able to see Jongin again. 

"Let's go," Sehun mumbles, and he drags his feet forward, step by step. 

Joonmyun looks relieved, and he carries on leading the way out. 

They reach the edge of the forest and when Sehun peers out through the trees, he can see the field where it feels like they had only just fought on. The ground is charred black and ash travels swift in the wind. 

“Wh-” he turns to ask. The ground had been green, a field of grass in the morning. And now it was dry and dead.

“They burn the bodies,” Joonmyun replies quietly. “It’s dangerous to let them rot and it’s even more dangerous to collect them. So they’re burned on the spot.”

Sehun can see the ash being blown away. Everything smells burnt. He wonders how many friends he can see, lighter than air, who can finally fly. Jongin had always wanted to fly, but Sehun hopes he never will. Not this way, at least. 

“Oh,” he replies. “When did the battle end?”

“This morning,” Joonmyun replies, and he places a comforting hand on Sehun’s shoulder. “You should cross now.”

Sehun starts to step away but he feels a hand on his wrist, holding him back.

“I know you’re confused Sehun,” Joonmyun says, “but if you want to know what really is going on, come back here tonight. I’ll wait here from the time it gets dark to dawn.”

Taken aback at the sincerity in Joonmyun’s voice, Sehun can only stare back. Joonmyun offers a small, apologetic smile. The same one he’d offer Sehun when anything goes awry.

“I’ll be back,” Sehun finally says. “I’ll see you soon.”

Joonmyun nods his head, and lets go. “I’ll see you soon,” he echoes. 

“Thank you,” Sehun says and he doesn’t know why he’s saying it. Joonmyun seems to know though as he nods. 

“Sorry,” he says.

➹➷

There’s someone there, behind him. Sehun can hear them creep along slowly behind him, the dull thump of leather boots on damp, forest floor. The same kind of sound he makes when he takes a step forward, the type of sound that could only be caused by regulation military leather.

Did someone see him sneak out? Sehun had been careful to make sure no one was watching. There were consequences for leaving camp without permission, and Sehun had no intention of being caught out. 

He ducks down, pressing his stomach down onto the dirt a line of low shrubs. Quietly, he slips an arm out from underneath him, a small dagger gripped tight in his fist as he waits. 

It doesn’t take long for the person following Sehun to show himself. He steps out from behind a tree and Sehun wants to laugh and groan at the same time. When more familiar figures step into sight though, it takes all his self-control not to groan out loud.

"Sehun, where are you?" Jongin whispers. "We know you're here somewhere." 

Sehun doesn't hold back a groan as he pushes himself off his stomach and to his feet. The group startle as they hear the shrubs in front of him quiver. 

"What are you doing?" he hisses at them as they approach. "Aren't you asleep?" 

"Obviously not," Baekhyun drawls from the side. Sehun turns to glare at him for only a second before looking back at Jongin. He crosses his arms. 

"What are you doing here?" he asks again. "Why did you follow me?" 

Jongin scowls back at him. "What would you do if you saw your best friend sneaking out into the forest in the middle of the night?" 

Sehun pauses, then he sighs. "I'm going to meet Joonmyun," he says. The words sound unreal even to him and the muffled noises of disbelief he receives don't surprise him 

He feels the back of a hand on his forehead. 

"Well, he hasn't got a fever," Kyungsoo announces wirily, "but that doesn't mean that there's nothing wrong with him." 

Sehun jerks away from the hand. 

"Sehun," Jongin says, and his tone is almost sympathetic. "Joonmyun's been gone for years." 

"He's probably in the Capitol sleeping in a silk bed right now," Baekhyun spits. 

Sehun hates their tone. He had seen Joonmyun only earlier than day and it _had_ been the same Joonmyun who had led him to safety. 

"He's here," Sehun replies stubbornly because he knows that he's right and that Joonmyun will be waiting for him at the edge of the forest. "I'm going to meet him now. If you don't believe me then just carry on following me and you'll see." 

He doesn't dare look at their faces for a while, and no one replies. The silence stretches. 

When Sehun finally does look though, Jongin is smiling. Although the smile is skeptical, he shrugs. "Whatever," he says. "I'm going with you. It's not safe to go by yourself anyway." 

Kyungsoo nods and soon, Chanyeol and even Baekhyun are agreeing. 

"I hope it's really Joonmyun," Chanyeol remarks as they start walking again. "I miss him."

➹➷

If Sehun had found the deserted battlefield offsetting by day, it was positively haunted by moonlight. Sehun finds himself shivering as he scans the first line of trees on the other side, looking for the fallen tree that would mark out the place Joonmyun had seen him off in the morning.

He sees it, and begins to make his way across the burnt ground, alongside the river and to the other side. Footsteps behind him tell him that his are following. 

They stay out of the trees and hover just in front of the fallen tree that Sehun had seen earlier. 

No Joonmyun in sight.

"Joonmyun?" Sehun calls softly. "Where are you?" 

There's no response. He calls again. 

He hears Baekhyun start muttering behind him, but he doesn't listen, continuing to call for Joonmyun. 

And sure enough, after a minute, a familiar voice sounds from behind a tree just inside the forest. 

"Sorry, I fell asleep waiting for you to arrive," it says. Everyone goes silent. They all remember that voice.

Joonmyun appears from behind the tree a moment later. He's smiling at first but then his eyes flicker behind Sehun and they widen. 

"What are you all doing here?" he asks, panic rising with every syllable. His arms move in unreadable gestures. 

"Joonmyun?" Kyungsoo asks softly. "What's wrong? Where have you been?" 

Joonmyun doesn't seem to hear him though as he runs forward. "Shit," he says. "This is so bad." 

"What's bad?" Sehun ventures. 

Joonmyun stares directly behind him, his eyes wide. "Shit," he says again. "Cover your head." 

"What the fu--"

"Just cover your head!" Joonmyun suddenly yells, bring his arms up over his head. 

Instinctively, Sehun follows suit. Something blocks their moonlight. Kyungsoo screams and Chanyeol yells out.

And then, there's nothing below his feet for miles. 

Sehun is in the air.

➹➷

Sehun opens his eyes. He's not dead and he's not inside the stomach of a dragon either. He looks around, and sure enough, they're all there, lying on the surprisingly warm ground.

They're all lying on the ground, apart from Joonmyun it seems. He's standing in front of a dragon and Sehun's about to yell at him to _run!_ before something very strange happens. The image of the dragon starts to blur and spin around in Sehun's eyes and when he looks again, there's no dragon but a very tall man.

Sehun blinks. The image in front of him does not change so he presses his eyes shut again, seeing only darkness for a long moment before he opens his eyes again. Nothing changes-- Joonmyun is still standing in the middle of the cave with his forehead pressed against a man who had been significantly bigger and covered in scales less than a minute ago. 

"Um, Joonmyun?" Chanyeol says. It sounds like he'll be the first to voice out what all of them are thinking. "Why are you guys pressing your foreheads together?" 

"It's hello!" Joonmyun exclaims indignantly. "In dragon." 

Sehun gapes at Joonmyun and Baekhyun is a second away from retorting, probably to comment on how stupid Joonmyun looks when--

"But neither of you are dragons, not right now at least," a voice says. Someone had beaten Baekhyun to it-- a short, sharp looking man their age who had just stepped out from a covered hole in the side of the cave. Sehun could have sworn that he had seen the man before.

"Jongdae?! What are you doing here?" Joonmyun splutters at the same time Baekhyun says "Hey! You're the guy Joonmyun was sucking off in the showers!" 

Oh. That must have been it. It's a not a big training camp that they have there and everyone's seen everyone else at least one.

"Baekhyun?!" several voices ring out at the same time. "You _what?_ " That voice sounds a little angry, Sehun thinks. Must be Joonmyun. 

Baekhyun shrugs, his face the very picture of innocence. "I wanted to wash my hands?" 

"I--" Joonmyun stumbles over his words. "You--" 

Sehun finally brings himself to cut in. "So, what exactly are we doing here?" he asks Joonmyun, trying his best not to look at the tall intimidating man-who-is-actually-a-dragon standing just behind him. "I assume from this," he gestures around, "and the fact we're all still alive that dragons..." He trails off, unsure of how to arrange his jumbled up streams of thought into a moderately coherent sentence. 

Thankfully, he's saved by Joonmyun who answers the question he hadn't been able to finish asking. "Not exactly," he slowly says. "Dragons are dragons and not all of them can change forms like Wu Fan here," at this, Joonmyun turns a bit to acknowledge the man behind him. Wu Fan nods towards them once, his dark eyes slowly flickering from one curious face to another. "But they're all intelligent. More intelligent than we've been taught." 

"Chanyeol, Baekhyun, Kyungsoo, Jongin, Sehun," Joonmyun's eyes travel over their faces as he says their names, meeting their eyes for a second before breaking away to meet the next. "We were one, once upon a time. Dragons and humans, we were the same."

➹➷

"Do you know what they're doing up in the Capitol?" Lu Han asks quietly.

Sehun shrugs from his position, sitting with his knees drawn up to his chest next to Jongin. "Preparing for battles? Rationing supplies? Having important meetings?" 

They had been shown to their rooms, or rather, their little cave that branched off from the main cave that they had arrived to, after the initial awkward introductions. There were six of them, the dragons-who-were-human-as-well and they all had some sort of power. Apparently, they all had powers too, but humans had been dead to them for so long that they had forgotten how to use them. 

They'd been called out for dinner, which then lead to a gathering around a fire in the main cave. 

Wu Fan snorts, and loudly at that. "You really have no idea, do you?" he asks, tone flat. He turns to Joonmyun. "You haven't told them yet?" 

"No," Joonmyun replies, voice soft. "They've already been shocked today, by you. I didn't want to burden them with so much all at once."

"It's okay." Sehun surprises himself by speaking up before anyone else does. "We can take the news." 

"They're not counting on winning the war, not really anyway" Lu Han cuts in bluntly before Joonmyun can figure out how to soften the blow. "They're planning to sacrifice every last one of you while they hole up behind the walls of the Capitol." 

"W-what?" Sehun hears Kyungsoo stutter somewhere to his right. 

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Jongin snaps back. "We're fighting this war and we're going to win it for our families, so they won't fear monsters like you ever again." 

Joonmyun winces visibly, and Sehun's hand moves to cover Jongin's. _Stop it._ Thankfully, Jongin doesn't pull away. 

"Monsters, are we?" 

A new voice joins them from behind. But that can't be right because Sehun had checked before sitting down. There's only a dead end behind them and no one could have possibly sneaked past. 

"Zitao," he hears someone sigh but he's not sure who because they're all too busy scrambling around. 

Everything about the newcomer is heavy, and he entrances Sehun like no other ever has. 

"Who are you," he breathes out before he can stop himself. 

The man smiles slowly, sarcastically. "Why don't you ask your friend there," he says in a voice that compliments his smile perfectly. "He seems to think he has a good idea." 

"I'm sorry about him," the words spill out before he can stop himself and before he knows it, Jongin is making an affronted sound and punching his side. 

"Zitao," someone says again, this time firmly. The newcomer must have been Zitao because he sighs once, loud and exaggerated before literally skipping past them. Sehun's eyes widen as he clings to Wu Fan's arm. 

"Wu Fan," he whines, tugging at Wu Fan's long crimson sleeve. "Why didn't you tell me you were having a secret meeting?" 

The ice breaks and out of the corner of his eye, Sehun can see that even Jongin has cracked a smile. 

“So,” Sehun begins, “I’m not saying that we believe everything you say but if we stay here… then what?”

“Then,” a slow smile stretches across Lu Han’s small face. “We train.”

➹➷

"I swear to God," Sehun mutters. Sweat drips down his brow and he raises a tired arm to wipe it away. A rock hits him in the stomach.

"Lu Han," he yells across the field. "I wasn't looking!" 

"Well, your enemies aren't going to care about that are they?" Lu Han yells back. "Hey! You over there! Look over here so you can see the arrow I'm about to shoot you at!" he mocks, picking up another rock from the ground to aim at Sehun. 

This one grazes past his cheek. 

"I told you not to duck Sehun!" Luhan calls. "The rocks won't go past chest height for gods sake." 

Sehun pouts over at him, and brings a hand up to touch his cheek. When he looks down at his fingers again, there's blood. "Can we stop?" he whines. "I'm hurt and my powers aren't coming out." 

Lu Han sighs and nods, gesturing him over, away from the riverbank. "Whatever," he says. "Joonmyun's going onto the river soon so we can't stay here for long anyway." 

"The river?" Sehun turns his head and narrows his eyes at it. "Why?"

"Se~cret," Lu Han sings. Sehun is about to retort when Lu han beats him with an answer to his unspoken words. "Maybe I'll tell you, once you've found your Gift." 

"But," Sehun starts, but then he sees Zitao coming along with Joonmyun over the hill and he falls silent. He lifts a hand to wave at them. 

"Lu Han!" Zitao squeals as if he hadn't just had breakfast with them a few hours ago. He then turns to Sehun and greets with him with a nod. 

"Sehun," Lu Han says gently, nudging him forward. "You're with Zitao from today." 

"I know," Sehun snaps back, moving quickly out of the range of Lu Han's touch before he realises what he's doing. He flushes. 

"Well then," Zitao says, obviously not amused, "let's get going."

➹➷

It had started like this:

"We all have powers, apparently, Gifts" Joonmyun breaks the news to them one morning. "It's just that they've been buried within us for so long that most humans will live their whole life without ever realising. It came from a time when all were both dragon and humans." 

"What?" Baekhyun says at the same time Chanyeol says "Like, we could all breathe fire a long time ago?"

"Not exactly," Minseok cuts in. He had been another member of the dragon-turned-human clan that Sehun hadn't met until the third day. He had been away negotiating, apparently. "You see, magic is in the blood of dragons and even after humans split themselves away, it remained dormant in their blood." 

"Um," Jongin says. 

"Um," Sehun echoes. 

"So we might be able to breathe fire and fly?" Kyungsoo asks. 

Lu Han laughs. "I'm not sure about that," he says. "Wu Fan can fly in his human form though." 

Sehun looks over Lu Han's shoulder at Wu Fan sitting at a desk, having an extremely intense staring contest with a scroll. Wu Fan looks too big to fly. 

"So what's my power then?" Sehun says to the room of people. 

"Well," Minseok says slowly, "that's the thing." 

"What thing?"

"We don't know yet." 

Sehun blinks at Minseok incredulously. "Excuse me?" he asks; he had a habit of being strangely polite when he's at a loss for words. 

"But!" Lu Han cuts in happily, "that's what we're going to find out! We managed to find Joonmyun's power and train him on how to use it properly so we have experience in this already!" 

"I... see?" Sehun replies slowly. They all turn to stare at Joonmyun. "What's your power?" 

"I can control water?" Joonmyun squeaks out from under the pressure of their gaze. "Like, I can throw it at people?" 

"Can you turn into a dragon?" Chanyeol asks excitedly. 

"Not yet," Joonmyun replies, "but I'm getting there." 

"Yeah remember that time Joonmyun walked around with a forked tongue for a week?" Jongdae cuts in from nowhere. "Damn, I'm still upset it went back to normal." 

"Shut _up_ Jongdae."

Sehun taps Jongin's shoulder to get his attention, and when he has it he gestures around. "You want to train?" he whispers. 

Jongin shrugs. "If you do." 

"So Joonmyun, give us some tips," Baekhyun says. "How did you find your powers?" 

Everyone on the other side of the room starts laughing and Joonmyun flushes red. "That's not important," he flusters. "Everyone will probably find their own powers a different way." 

"But we should get as much help as can," Baekhyun argues back. "Come on, it can't be that bad." 

Joonmyun stands up. "I'm going to go feed the main fire," he puffs. 

It's not until he turns the corner into another part of the cave that Lu Han speaks. "Joonmyun was washing in the river," he wheezes out. He's trying not to laugh, and he's not succeeding. "Zitao tried to jump in and wash with him and Joonmyun panicked." 

"And that's how he found his powers?" 

"Yeah," Lu Han snorts. "He almost drained the river making a barrier between him and Zitao." 

“Well then," Baekhyun says after a the laughter dies down. “I guess that didn’t really help us after all.”

➹➷

Sehun misses the rocks that Lu Han would throw at him.

Rocks, as he comes to realise are inanimate objects and hence very safe compared to a black fire-breathing dragon. 

Zitao's method of "training" turns out to be very different from Lu Han's method of using both his mind and hands to throw rocks at Sehun from every direction. Zitao had decided that shock was the best method of getting one's Gift to show itself ( _I wonder why_ , Sehun thinks quietly to himself).

This results in Sehun spending a significant amount of his day inside a huge hole in the ground. 

“I dug that myself,” Zitao had told him proudly before pushing him in. Sehun had tumbled to the bottom and had looked up just in time to see a huge black dragon lunging down at him. 

“I could hear you screaming from the caves,” Baekhyun tells him later over dinner. 

Zitao sniggers. Sehun doesn’t grace either of them with an answer. 

Recently though, things have improved. Sehun has stopped screaming every other time he sees Zitao in his dragon form and instead of Zitao flying them back home after each training (because strangely enough, home has stopped being his little village on the outskirts of the Southern Territory borders, but the chain of caves embedded in the second mountain west of the river), they’ve started to walk back together. 

The walk is by no means short or easy-- a treacherous hike for the common civilian, but Sehun is a soldier and Zitao is--well, he’s accustomed to living like this. 

“Were you always human like this?” Sehun asks one night as he edges along a ledge on the face of the mountain. They were out later than usual and according to Zitao, this was the only way that would see them back home in time for dinner. 

“No,” Zitao replies, right behind Sehun, ready to catch him if he falls. “All of us were born dragons.” 

“Then how are you,” Sehun almost takes his hands off the rock to gesture at Zitao before realizing that he’s holding himself to the face of the mountain with his hands. “You know, like that.” 

Zitao laughs, as if he had known what Sehun had been seconds away from doing. “Dragons aren’t as stupid as you humans think they are,” he explains. “Although we cannot talk as you do, we are able to communicate through our minds, and we are able to pass legends down through generations.” 

“Dragons have a language?” 

“The language is the same, Sehun,” Zitao chides. “Don’t you remember that we used to be the same race? Although time and ambition has separated us, we still speak the same tongue.” 

“Oh.” Sehun feels as if he should have been able to guess without asking, especially after all this time. 

“If you want to know more,” Zitao says, “Ask Lu Han. He knows a lot more about this than I do.” 

“But Lu Han’s always busy,” Sehun replies. 

“He’ll be at dinner,” Zitao says. “And I want to eat dinner so hurry up and walk faster.” 

“Why don’t you just fly us back then?” Sehun retorts, but he speeds up his steps anyway. 

“Because, Sehun,” Zitao replies slowly as if he were speaking to a child, “I can’t talk to you when I’m a dragon.” 

Sehun’s walking steady over the ledge and he’s in no danger of falling but for some reason, he wants to fall. Because falling means Zitao will catch him, and every time Zitao catches him, Sehun feels as if his stomach is still plummeting down into the depths.

➹➷

“Wake up! Sehun, wake up!”

Sehun is shaking, no, there’s someone shaking him. He opens his eyes and four worried pairs of eyes stare down at him. "What?" he yawns, rubbing his eyes to clear away the dizziness. 

"Where's Jongin?" Joonmyun snaps. "This isn't funny at all." 

Sehun sits up. "What do you mean, where's Jongin?" he snaps right back. "How am I supposed to know?" 

Kyungsoo places a hand onto Joonmyun's shoulder, holding him back from a retort. "Jongin usually is one of the first to get up. He runs for a while before practicing his swordsmanship with Zitao," he explains. 

But Sehun knows all this, not that he's ever seen it himself, being one of the people who gets up the latest. "I know...?" 

"This morning, Jongin never turned up to practice with Zitao and no one saw him go out this morning. We think he left sometime during the night." 

Sehun scrambles to his feet, all thoughts of sleep gone in an instant. "What?" he asks again. "You think Jongin ran away?" 

No one answers, but the silence is answer enough. 

"How could you think that?" Sehun asks through gritted teeth. "Jongin wouldn't do that, he wouldn't betray us like that." 

Kyungsoo nods comfortingly. "We know," he says. "We just wondered if you knew anything, after all, you're the closest to him out of all of us." 

And then, a wave of guilt crashes over Sehun. It he had spent a little more time with Jongin and a little less with Zitao, would he know right now where Jongin was? Or perhaps he would be with him, going wherever he was because there was no way that Jongin would betray them, betray him. 

"I don't," Sehun replies dumbly. "Jongin didn't tell me anything." 

There's already a discussion taking place on what to do with the missing Jongin situation when they walk out into the main cave. While Lu Han seemed to want to wait for a bit to see if Jongin returned, Yixing, who was surprisingly present for once, thought that preparing for the worst and immediately retreating back to the territory of the dragons was the best idea. 

Sehun doesn't listen for very long before turning his back and walking straight towards the exit. "I'm going to go search for him," he states. Sehun isn't seeking permission to go out, he's telling them that he will go out and search for Jongin no matter what they say. 

"You will do no such thing," Wu Fan tells him. "You're staying right here." 

"No I'm not," Sehun retorts. "Jongin could be hurt somewhere, I'm going to look for him." 

The pressure of Wu Fan's glare is intense, but Sehun does not flinch away front it. Instead he stands straight, meeting the glare with his own determined eyes. 

"How do we know that he did not betray us?" Wu Fan demands. "How do we not know that you are not going to join him right now?" 

_Because I know._

Sehun hesitates, but before he can answer, Zitao cuts in.

"I'll go with Sehun," he offers. "You trust me, don't you?" 

Wu Fan's head whips around to stare at Zitao who nods and makes his way over to Sehun's side. Grudgingly, Wu Fan nods. 

"We'll be back by nightfall," Zitao calls as a steers a numb Sehun out. "Send someone to find us if Jongin comes back before then." 

Zitao stops just outside their hidden entrance. "Where do we go first?" he asks. 

"You think we'll find him?" Sehun replies. 

"Yeah, we will," Zitao hums comfortingly. He wraps his arm around the back of Sehun's shoulders. "If you believe he's innocent, then I do too." 

"Really?" 

"Of course." 

Sehun feels himself lean into Zitao as he scans the landscape in front of him. "There first," he points with his head on Zitao's shoulder. "Let's check along the river first."

➹➷

Sehun feels a gust of wind past him. It's coming from further down. He turns to look.

“Where the fuck have you been?" Sehun scrambles to his feet behind the table. 

Jongin blinks for a moment, taking in his surroundings before stumbling back. "Woah," he had gasped out. "How the fuck did I get here?" 

Lu Han stands up calmly, and leads Jongin over to his seat at the table. "Have some meat," he says. "We caught it yesterday while out looking for you. Congratulations, you have found your Gift." 

Sehun seethes at that, not only because Jongin seemed to be getting off lightly for worrying them all so much, but he was being praised. But unfortunately for Jongin, and more satisfactorily for Sehun, Wu Fan and Joonmyun, the two who had somehow fallen into a leadership position in their group, were less pleased. 

"Where did you go?" Wu Fan asks. He corners Jongin after breakfast, waiting until the excitement of Jongin finding his Gift had died down a bit. 

"Uh," Jongin replies. "I was out... exploring?" 

"You went over the mountains to the other side, didn't you." Joonmyun saw through him in a second, and Sehun wasn't surprised. Despite the way they all laughed at Joonmyun, there had been a reason he was able to fall into a leadership position both back when they were cadets and even now, deserters hiding out in the mountains. 

"You _what?_ " Wu Fan asks, his voice dropping dangerously close to a growl. "After I told you not to go there?" 

Visibly, Jongin gulps. "I- I-" he stutters. They had never seen Wu Fan truly angry before, and never before had he been angry at another person rather than at his own mistakes. It’s frightening. "I wanted to see for myself," Jongin continues, attempting to keep his voice strong. "I wanted to see that they were intelligent, just like you said." 

Apparently, it had been the right answer to give before Wu Fan sighs deeply, and he seems to exhale most his anger along with it. "I guess we've kept too much from you," he says. "One of you was bound to get curious." 

Jongin straightens up. "Does that mean I'm--"

"No, that does not mean we're going to leave it at that," Joonmyun cuts through his words. "Do you have any idea how stupid it was to do that?" 

"But--" Jongin's tone takes on its familiar, defensive edge, ready to argue. 

"Jongin," Wu Fan interrupts. "He's right." 

"Sehun and Zitao spent the whole day flying into valleys and looking inside every damned cave for you," Joonmyun snaps. He turns to face Sehun, who takes a step back at the intensity of his eyes. "Didn't you?" 

"I--" Sehun starts, but he feels a hand on his shoulder and he freezes up. 

"We did," Zitao's voice answers for him. 

"See!" Joonmyun practically screeches at Jongin. "What if you had died? What then?" 

Jongin deflates. "Sehun, I'm sorry," he says. All the fight in him has left. "And Zitao, I'm sorry for troubling you." 

Sehun feels the hand on his shoulder extend until Zitao's drawing him close. He feels warm. 

"Jongin," he says. He doesn't remember the last time Jongin had apologized with his head down. His closest friend is a proud person; Jongin laughs everything off and never looks back. "At least you're safe," he finally manages to say. The words feel strange when he says them, it doesn't sound like something Sehun would say, but rather something Kyungsoo might say after punching Jongin in the arm a million times for worrying them. 

"Yeah, at least I am," Jongin repeats.

➹➷

They're lying side by side, backs on the grass and staring up at the sky.

"Did the sky ever look like this back in the Southern Territory?" Sehun asks. The sky is deep, and the clouds wispy, thin and translucent. 

"I don't know," Jongin replies slowly. "We never had to time to look, did we?" 

"Wake up, train, sleep," Sehun says. "I can't believe we spent so long living like that." 

"Neither can I." 

Sehun doesn't reply, instead he follows a wisp of cloud across the sky. The clouds are layered, some lower than others and Sehun tries to see them all. 

"Sehun," Jongin suddenly whispers to him. It breaks the quiet. "You know, I thought I wasn't scared anymore." 

The clouds continue to be blown across the sky, and Sehun continues watching them. His hand shifts ever so slightly. 

"After all this time, seeing you with Zitao everyday, seeing Lu Han and Minseok fly together, Jongdae shifting for fun, Yixing coming back and forth, and even Wu Fan hasn't seemed so bad lately. I really thought that I was over it."

Sehun doesn't look over. Jongin's voice shakes, but Jongin is proud. 

"When I went over there, all I wanted to know was--" Jongin breaks off. Sehun moves closer.

"I thought they were going to devour me," Jongin whispers. "I thought they were going to burn me, devour me, just like they did to him." 

Sehun feels the side of his hand brush again Jongin. 

"Jongin," he whispers back. _I'm here, I'm listening._

"They're so big, and even after everything that we've learnt, day after day, they were able to just push me over into the dirt and pick me up." Jongin's voice cracks. "I had a dagger on me, the ones they gave us. I wanted to kill them, for what they did to him but," Jongin pauses again. Sehun can hear him breathe deep, steadying himself. 

"They knocked the dagger out of my hands, and they melted it," Jongin's voice is rising. It's shaking. "There was no fire, with just one breath, they melted it." 

"But you know," Jongin continues. He laughs, only it comes out more like a choked cough. "I thought they were going to melt me down like that too, I thought they were going to melt my skin into my bones and devour me but--" 

Jongin's breaths are deep and shuddering. His words are no longer controlled and steady. He's gasping them in and coughing them out. Sehun keeps his eyes fixed upon the sky, frantically blinking when he feels dust gather in his open eyes. He can't close them, no, he won't. 

"The dragon, he looked at me," Jongin chokes. "He looked at me and then they all just flew me back to the edge of the forest and _let me go._ "

Sehun finds Jongin's hand, flat on the ground and he covers it with his own. 

"I couldn't do it," Jongin sobs. "I couldn't do anything because I know it's all true." 

In his short time on both on the battlefield and off it, Sehun has seen many things. He's seen blood pour from open wounds and bodies charred black. He's seen snow atop the highest mountains and he's seen fields of crisp green. 

But he never once sees Jongin cry because his closest friend is proud and Sehun understands.

➹➷

_I've been left behind_ , Sehun thinks. It's a thought that has reoccurred to him many times over the months. He's really the only one left yet to discover his Gift. Kyungsoo had found his a while back when Zitao had tried his method of tossing him into a hole and lunging at him in dragon form (Zitao was met with a mouthful of dirt and complained about the taste for days; Dragons eat meat, not dirt!) and Baekhyun had found his through the most anticlimactic way. He had been thirty one night and couldn't find candles, leading to his discovery of his Gift of Light.

Only yesterday had Chanyeol accidentally set fire to Wu Fan's hair after being scolded, marking Sehun as the only one yet to come discover his Gift. He’s holding them up, holding their plans up and even if the dragons had not yet told them everything, Sehun could feel it. Time is sand, slipping through their fingertips and they can’t afford to wait forever for Sehun.

"Jongin," Sehun whispers with a tap to his friend's shoulder. "I'm going out for a walk. I'll be back before supper." 

"Sehun, are you okay?" There's a concern in Jongin's eyes rarely seen. Sehun realizes that he's serious, perhaps more serious than Sehun's ever seen. 

"I'm okay." Sehun forces a smile to his face. "I just want to walk for a bit. Zitao flew us back today." It's not a lie but it's not why he wants to walk either. He just wants a little time to think by himself. 

"Are you sure you don't want to talk?" Jongin asks. "I can go with you--"

"Jongin," Sehun cuts in. "Really, it's okay." He forces his lips to remain fixed in a smile. He doesn't know why he bothers-- he knows that Jongin can see through it. He’s always been able to. 

"If you're sure," Jongin replies slowly. He forces a smile to his face and laughs, a little awkward. "If you're late for supper you miss out," he says. "I'm not saving you anything." 

Sehun laughs in return, nodding as he turns around. "That's what you say now," he laughs. But you'll save some for me. Even if you have to battle Chanyeol and Baekhyun, you'll make sure I don't miss out. Because I'd do the same for you. 

When Sehun walks alone, he sees that the forest is alive. It's not something that he often sees, and not anything close to what he had ever felt back in the days he trained among men. He wonders if the little patch of forest the main army hide out in is alive like this too. He wonders how many men are too blind to see it, too deaf to hear it, too heartless to feel everything around them.

Moss grows right over stones at the edge of the pond at the base of the mountain but Sehun doesn't mind, not anymore. He sit down on top of a soft looking round stone, it's edges long worn down by rain and wind. It feels as if nothing could disturb him here, as if nothing could upturn the calm inside of him.

Sehun closes his eyes and lets himself wander.

When he opens his eyes again, the fireflies light his sky.

"You've woken," a wonderfully familiar voice says. "Did you sleep well?" 

"I wasn't asleep," Sehun replies, his voice soft. It blends in well with the forest. "Just...thinking." 

"What were you thinking about to not notice my approach?" Zitao laughs gently. The sound is warmth to Sehun. 

Sehun hesitates for a moment. The reason why he was here comes trickling back to him like the river through a crack in its stone boundaries.

"Don't think about that," Zitao says before Sehun can compose an answer. Sehun wonders if his answers can be seen written clearly on his face.

"But, aren't I a burden?" Sehun asks. 

Gracefully, Zitao leaps from one moss covered stone to the other until he's right there, in front of Sehun. His breath his warm in the night breeze. 

"No, you are not," Zitao whispers. "You have been chosen, you are Gifted and you will never be a burden." He leans in, and Sehun feels Zitao's hand in on the back of his neck. 

Everything feels so right.

The first kiss was tentative, the second encouraging. The third he waits for, his eyes closed and back against the cool trunk of a tree. But the third kiss never comes. 

Instead, a gust of wind so strong it leaves the tall blades of grass pressed nearly flat to the ground, pushes past them both, and Sehun opens his eyes to see Zitao staring up at the sky, an expression of wonder on his face. Sehun follows his gaze up and he gasps.

The light of the fireflies dims. The thick clouds that had covered the sky only moments before have parted to leave only the stars in their place. 

"Your Gift," Zitao breathes, looking back down into Sehun's eyes. "Your Gift is the wind." 

There are no words that Sehun could possibly use to describe how he feels to Zitao, so instead he just smiles and smiles, returning the pride in Zitao's eyes with pure joy. 

"My Gift," he finally says. "You found it." 

Zitao just laughs softly in reply. "We're ready," he says. "It's finally time."

➹➷

Training continues, but with more vigour than ever before. Now that Sehun's Gift has shown itself, Wu Fan takes over his instruction with the occasional help from Minseok and Yixing when they’re home. Everyone knows that Minseok and Yixing spend most of their time away from their little cave and return at strange times, together or alone; but for what, nobody knows.

"Sehun," Wu Fan says slowly. Lately, he seems to have taken to speaking to Sehun as if he is a child. 

Perhaps it's because in the space of a little over a month, Sehun has made as much progress as a child writing poetry, or perhaps even less. 

"Now, do you know what to do, Sehun?" Wu Fan asks again. "I’ll fly up into the sky and then I’ll glide down at you. You must stop me." 

Sehun scowls. "I know," he mutters. "We've been doing this for weeks." 

"Knowing isn't enough.' Wu Fan arches an eyebrow. "You need to know how to do it as well." 

"Whatever." 

"I didn't see you complaining when you trained with Zitao using the exact same method for months. It's only been a few weeks, don't scowl at me," Wu Fan calls down, already up in the air. 

Sehun blushes scarlet, and looks away. He hasn't told anyone about his newly found relationship with Zitao, and Zitao had assured him that he would keep it secret too until they were both comfortable with others knowing. That hasn't stopped everyone else from figuring it out though. For Sehun, it’s a suspicious Jongin who notices first, followed by an amused Joonmyun. Apparently, Yixing had seen Sehun out spending time with Zitao in a little forest clearing. He had asked Lu Han about the relationship between the two of them and Lu Han had been so amused he had asked Wu Fan if he knew anything. From there everything had exploded into teasing comments on the side and daily embarrassment for Sehun. 

"Sehun! Are you ready?" Wu Fan calls from above. "I'm going down now." 

"Ready," Sehun calls back even though he feels anything but. He's said the word so many times it leaves a bitter taste in his mouth because he knows that, no matter what he says, he'll never be ready. 

Like the last time, and the time before that, Wu Fan starts to slowly descend down towards Sehun. He keeps his hands locked straight down his side, a fistful of his cloak clutched tight in each hand. Sehun knows what he needs to do-- it doesn't take a genius for his to work it out. All he needs to do is to direct strong winds into the cloak and throw Wu Fan back, or at least off his track. 

It's an easier concept in theory than in action. 

Tensing as he directs all his focus on Wu Fan, Sehun wills the wind to fill up the space between Wu Fan's body and the cloak behind him. 

What would usually have caused a light breeze is today a gust of wind. While it doesn't deter Wu Fan in the slightest, its causes a small smile to emerge on Wu Fan's usually stern face. 

"You're finally improving," Wu Fan says as he touches down in front of Sehun. "What was different this time?" 

"I... don't know?" Sehun replies slowly. He considers, what had been different? Had anything been different at all?

Wu Fan laughs lightly. "Remember that feeling," he instructs. "Remember that feeling and will yourself to do better." 

Sehun nods, eyes wide. The advice is sincere and he can hear it. _I want to hear it again_ , he thinks. _I want to hear pride in his voice again._

➹➷

It doesn't take long for Sehun to improve after that. Despite his stern appearance and intimidating demeanour, Wu Fan is a good teacher. Sehun learns how to control and direct the wind quickly, and soon, it's not just Wu Fan who is zooming down at him from the sky.

Yixing, a beautiful white-blue dragon, lunges down at him from above. Sehun directs all his power onto Yixing's two wings and they snap back and Yixing screams in pain. "Yixing," Wu Fan yells. The panic in his voice shocks Sehun, who stands numb as the wind dies down around him. Wu Fan transforms in a split second and he's in the air, catching Yixing as he falls. By the time Wu Fan touches down onto the ground, they're both human again and Yixing lies limp in Wu Fan's arms. 

"Yixing!" Sehun calls. His body allows him to move again and he sprints over, the wind at his back propelling him faster than he ever could have dreamed of going. "Are you okay?" 

Wu Fan rounds on Sehun the moment he gets within an arms length. "Fuck off," he snarls. 

Sehun stumbles back. The venom in his voice scares him like nothing else. For a moment, the man in front of him in not the mentor that had taught him and honed his powers for months, but a beast. 

"Is Yixing alright?" Sehun tries again. 

"He will be," Wu Fan snaps. "Now just run along." 

Sehun backs away, and away, until he turns his back on the two and runs.

➹➷

“Sehun?” a quiet voice prods. “Are you okay?”

After reaching the cave, Sehun had found himself a dead end and had sat himself there facing the stone wall. Zitao had tried first to coax him out, but Sehun had just stared resolutely at the cracks in the stone. Jongin had tried next, telling him that Wu Fan and Yixing had returned and Wu Fan really wasn’t angry with him anymore. 

But at this next voice Sehun jerks up. It’s not a voice he hears often, but still, he recognizes it. Perhaps it’s the voice that he’s been waiting for. 

“He just gets a little upset when something happens to me,” Yixing tells Sehun gently. "I'm alright, and Wu Fan isn't angry at you anymore." 

Sehun turns around. Yixing is crouching on the same level as Sehun, smiling gently at him. 

"I'm sorry," Sehun mumbles into his arm. "I really didn't mean to hurt you." 

"I know you didn't," Yixing replies, his voice every bit as comforting as his smile. "That's why it's okay, I'm fine and I forgive you." 

"I'm still sorry," Sehun says again. "Are you sure that you're okay?" 

"Of course," Yixing says, moving his arms up and down as if to prove his point. "Did no one ever tell you why I volunteered to help train you?"

Sehun shakes his head, looking up at Yixing with curiosity in his eyes. "No, why?" 

"Because," he says. "I can do this." 

And with that, he picks up Sehun's hand and traces his finger lightly over a scar on his palm. Sehun had got that during his first year of cadet training when someone had played a cruel joke on him and had sharpened his practise sword. As Yixing runs his finger over the scar, it disappears. 

"Woah." Sehun can't help but exclaim, drawing his palm back to himself in order to examine it carefully. The scar is really gone, and he can't feel even a trace of it left. 

"I have the Gift of Healing," Yixing says. "What you accidently did to me, it had healed by the time Wu Fan carried me back." 

"Oh," Sehun replies, relieved. "I'm glad." 

"Do you feel ready to come back now?" Yixing asks him. "Come on, let's go. We'll both miss supper if we stay here much longer." 

"I'm not hungr--" Sehun's stomach rumbles. 

"Of course not," Yixing laughs, rising to his feet. "Now come on, even if you're not hungry, I am." 

Sehun feels himself being tugged to his feet by a warm hand around his wrist. He doesn't struggle, he just allows Yixing to lead him out. 

They enter the main cave where everyone else is already eating. Sehun feels ten other pairs of eyes fix on him--everyone's home tonight. Wu Fan's eyes seem to flicker over the two before narrowing suspiciously on Yixing's hand around Sehun's wrist. 

"I'm fine now, I won't run away," Sehun whispers frantically to Yixing, trying to tug his wrist out of Yixing's grip. 

"Don't worry," Yixing insists. "Wu Fan doesn't mind." 

If doesn't mind equals a glare almost equally intense as the one that Sehun had received earlier that day for injuring Yixing, then yes, Wu Fan does not mind at all. Sehun casts his eyes elsewhere, to Zitao who's sitting at the end of the table closest to him with an empty seat next to him. He pats it, gesturing for Sehun. 

After what feels like forever, Yixing finally lets go of Sehun's wrist and dances his way over to Wu Fan. Sehun feels as if part of a huge weight has been lifted right off his shoulders as he plops down next to Zitao who immediately wraps his an arm around Sehun's waist. 

"I'm sorry," Wu Fan suddenly says gruffly. "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."

It takes a fair amount of Sehun's courage to look up at Wu Fan, but when he does, he doesn't regret it. The man looks almost sheepish as he stretches a hand across the table. "Are we good?" 

Sehun nods. "I'd be mad too if someone hurt my friend," he replies, leaning forward to take the hand. "We're good."

But supper descends into a sombre affair not soon after. 

"So," Wu Fan starts after every last scrap of food had been eaten or stored away. "We think it's time that everyone knew just what has been happening." 

Zitao yawns, very loudly. 

"And pay attention," Wu Fan emphasizes with a pointed stare at Zitao. "We will be telling this in turns. No one knows the entire situation so everyone must listen carefully in preparation for tomorrow." 

"Tomorrow?" Joonmyun asks. 

"We'll get to that later, but for now, Joonmyun, you should start the story." 

"Oh, right," Joonmyun shifts awkwardly in his seat. Jongdae whispers something quick into his ear and he settles. "You know how I left the Southern Territory for the Capitol right?" 

There are nods. 

"Well, um, I--" 

"Tell them what you found in the Capitol," Lu Han prompts gently. 

Joonmyun nods, and when he speaks again, he speaks more confidently. 

"In the Capitol, I heard the solution to end this war we have with the dragons," he says. He doesn't stutter. "It's a long story how I found out so I'll just tell you what they're planning to do." 

He pauses for a moment, grimacing. 

"The river that runs down from the Capitol is also the river which runs through our land and into the land beyond the mountains-- that is, the land of the dragons," Joonmyun says. "They're planning to poison it downstream from the Capitol. The land and the dragons cannot survive without water, but neither can our families." 

The silence is cold. Sehun can feel himself shiver. 

“But, the Capitol wouldn’t do that to its people,” Chanyeol protests. “The King wouldn’t kill his own people just to win this war.” 

Joonmyun smiles bitterly. “Our human nation is dying already,” he answers. “For how long have we been at war? There are no men left in our villages to wed the women, to have children, to continue the generations.” 

"But--" Chanyeol tries to say again, but he has no words to interrupt with. What Joonmyun had said was true, and Sehun knew that in his own village at least, there were no longer men but only those too old or crippled to fight and those too young to lift a sword. 

The war effort against the dragons was going nowhere. Although the people within the borders had been told that the sacrifices of their men had meant something, that their loved ones had not died in vain, Sehun knew that, after being out on the battlefield himself, that they were all lies. 

Men stood no chance against the might of dragons. Men were confined to the ground, and dragons would just swoop over, blowing fire over men and killing or maiming many. The only chance men had were to aim their arrows up into the sky at the soft membrane of their wings, hoping to wound the dragon enough to bring him down onto the ground. Of course, this rarely worked and even on the ground, dragons were no easy opponent. 

With their scales harder than the iron shields men carried, their swords could not pierce through into the body of the dragon so they were forced to aim for the eyes and wings to prevent escape. However, to reach the eyes, one would have to pass the mouth of the dragon and it was a tale that none had survived to tell. 

Sehun remembers how, by the second day of his time in the main army, he had found out the army had only slain one dragon in the last ten years. Sehun remembers the despair that had overcome him for a moment because he had heard so many lies. There was no honour, there was no victory, the army supposedly containing the living souls of most of the nations men was small. There was only death in this war. 

"There's only death," Sehun whispers. "But there's only death left for us, in every way." 

Joonmyun nods, and Chanyeol stiffens. 

"Believe what you will," Joonmyun says, "but I am not the only one who knows this." 

Yixing dips his head, his face grave. There is no hint of the smile he had shown Sehun only a few hours before. 

"As you know, Minseok and I are rarely here," he begins. "We will share with you the reason today." 

"We travel back and forth between, communicating with both the dragons and the men," Minseok explains. "Most men do not know what their King is planning to do to them and so they are forced to blindly believe the lies that are fed to them by heralds from the Capitol every recruiting season."

"The dragons, they are able to communicate by the mind," Yixing continues. "What one knows, all must know. There is an exception for the six of us," he says with a gesture around the table, "and it has caused their anger. They cannot keep secrets." 

Sehun screws up his brow, wondering. "Did one of them find out what the Capitol was planning to do?" he asks. 

"Yes," Minseok answers. The single word hands in the air. "On the field, there was a soldier-- perhaps he was from the Capitol-- who knew about the plans. You have heard about the last dragon that was slain. In the last of her moments, the soldier laughed at her and told her what the Capitol was going to do, perhaps in the height of their small victory."

"And what one dragon hears," Yixing says. "They all hear."

The tale ends with a silence even colder than the one which had preceded it. Sehun shivers, and feels Zitao pull him closer a moment after. 

"What are we going to do?" Jongin asks. 

Wu Fan gestures over to Jongdae, who straightens up importantly. 

"We're going across the mountains to the other side of the forest tomorrow," he says. "We're going to meet an Elder of our kind. They have the rest of the story."

The reactions are mixed. Chanyeol looks excited, Baekhyun skeptical. Joonmyun and Kyungsoo look slightly frightened but Jongin starts to shake. 

"Do we have to?" he forces out. "Can't you just, tell us now?" 

Lu Han looks sympathetic as he answers. "It's better for you to see," he says. "This Elder is able to link minds with men. He can show you what we cannot." 

Quietly, Sehun wriggles out of Zitao's hold. "I'll be back, later," he whispers. 

Sehun gets up, and finds himself behind Jongin. "Move over a bit," he says with a prod. 

Jongin shift over and Sehun squashes himself between Jongin and a scowling Jongdae. 

"You okay with this?" Sehun whispers. 

"Yeah, I'm fine." Jongin whispers back. 

The shaking grip that Jongin's hand has Sehun in under the table tells another story.

➹➷

The day starts clear with no sign of cloud or rain. Sehun can only hope that it's a good omen.

Jongin seems to be calm as they head outside to the clearing that Sehun had trained in for months-- it's the nearest clear space where men could comfortable transform into dragons on the ground. 

“You ready?” Zitao asks. 

Sehun doesn’t answer. His eyes are fixed on Jongin. 

Lu Han has his hands cupped around Jongin’s face, and he’s speaking to him. Sehun wills the wind to bring him their words. 

He feels something tug at his heart. Don't listen, something tells him. If the words were meant for you, then Jongin will tell you. 

But it's too late as the wind brings him Lu Han's voice. 

"Jongin, look at me," Lu Han says. Sehun can see Jongin's eyelashes flutter up. "Just as you were willing to kill to keep your family and people safe, my brothers were willing to do the same." 

Oh, Lu Han knows. Jongin had told Lu Han about everything, about Taemin, and it had somehow escaped Sehun's notice how close the two must have become. 

"I know," Jongin murmurs. "I understand now. I'm not afraid, not anymore."

Lu Han nods, and he turns his head. Sehun freezes as their eyes meet-- Lu Han had caught him listening. Expecting a scolding for using his Gift to listen without permission or invitation, Sehun steps forward so at least Zitao doesn't hear. But instead, Lu Han shakes his head, and motions him back with a swift flick of his wrist. _It's fine_ , his lips trace. _You're his friend, I know of your concern. But don't do it again._

Sehun nods, and offers a sheepish smile. _I understand, thank you._

And then Zitao's pushing him gently away to give himself the room to safely transform and before Sehun knows it, he's on Zitao's back and in the sky.

Although he's seen the forest from above many times before, never fails to stun him. As they soar over the green and through the mountains, Sehun feels free. 

Time seems to pass differently when they are in the air. Minutes seem like hours and days seem to pass in seconds. It feels like hours to Sehun, in the sky, but he knows that it only takes minutes to fly to the other side of the forest. 

They touch down. There is no one waiting for them, but Sehun takes in the land of the dragons. It's beautiful, and it's crisp. Perhaps it was what the land of the men had looked like once, before they had destroyed so much of it to build on, sell off, and maim for their own purposes. 

"We're early," Wu Fan says from somewhere behind Sehun. Apart from Minseok and Yixing, they've all changed back to their human forms. 

"He'll be here soon," Lu Han instructs. "When he lands, bow. Don't look up again until he acknowledges you."

Sehun is about to ask how he'll know that the dragon has acknowledged him when they see a shape in the sky, drawing closer and closer at an inhuman speed. 

"Bow!" Wu Fan commands. "And remember to stay silent until he acknowledges you."

Quickly, Sehun forces his back to bend and his eyes down. Curiosity itches at him to catch a glimpse of the approaching Elder dragon but he forces the itch down, resisting the urge. 

The ground shakes when the Elder lands. 

Nothing seems to happen, or perhaps Sehun just can't see anything happening. He stands, tense, hands by his sides. 

Then, he feels it. 

Sehun feels as if his mind is opening.

Colours fill his mind and suddenly, he can feel the world around him as he has never been able to before. The green is more crisp, the snow atop the mountains more white, and the flaws in the mountainside more profound. Sehun can also hear what he’s never been able to hear before. He can hear the voices of generations, the sounds of history flickering through his head. 

This is the acknowledgement, his mind has been linked. This is what it feels like to be a dragon, for one to know what they all know. For all to be one, and one to be all. 

Sehun looks up, and he sees the Elder. He is smaller than Sehun had envisioned, but more magnificent than he could have imagined. Pearl white with age, endless colours seem to swirl beneath his scales and Sehun stares at them, transfixed by the movements. 

_Those are the memories of my people_ , a voice rings in Sehun's head. _I have gathered them, and given them a place to rest and be restored every generation._

Gasping, Sehun doesn't realise that he's stumbling forward, hands outstretched to touch them until Zitao pulls him back. 

_It's fine_ , the same voice rumbles, obviously amused. _Let him approach. Let them all approach._

So Sehun stumbles forward again, and he feels the scales under his hands. They are neither brittle, nor are they hard. They are not fragile, but nor do they seem unbreakable. His fingers trace the edges of one, then another, and another. Under his fingertips, they feel timeless. 

_Now,_ the voice says, _let me tell you why you have come. Let me show you what already has been lost among men._

➹➷

_The world started from only twelve._

_They were neither solely man nor dragon, taking flight to the skies when they so desired and travelling on their two legs as they wished._

_These men had a purpose, and they were Gifted to allow them to serve their purpose._

_Light, movement, control of the mind, freezing of time, water, wind, earth, flight, fire, ice, healing, lightning._

_Reborn time and time again, it was the duty of these men to come to the aid of the land when it most needed them._

_For a while, all was well._

_But then, as the ambitions of men grew, conflict began to arise. They became selfish and they had forgotten about the world that was once theirs to cherish._

_For a while, the two races lived in peace, men inhibited the ground and dragons the sky. The twelve remained, keeping peace. Six born as dragons, six as men._

_But then, they disappeared. The six born as men never came forward one generation, and the power of the Twelve were lost._

_And it was then that chaos struck._

_Those who had once been brothers turned on each other, and war began and it continues to this very moment._

_But it has always been known, among our kind, that when the world is at its time of greatest need, the Twelve will be reborn as it once was and will guide us out from the depths of darkness._

_The time has come._

➹➷

Sehun opens his eyes, and gasps for breath.

The link fades, and Sehun feels his mind slowly become his again. 

He looks around at his friends, and Jongin seems to be digesting the information slowly with a realization on his face. Baekhyun and Chanyeol seem to be still reeling from the power of the mind link and Kyungsoo looks awed. Joonmyun looks as if he has just cried. 

"So, that's why we're here..." Sehun slowly says. "We were born for a purpose, weren't we." 

The Elder nods. 

"Yes," Wu Fan answers instead. "We were born and reborn for a purpose." He glances up at the Elder, and then nods. "Some have already served out their ultimate purpose lifetimes ago, and some will not in this lifetime. However, we must all strive to do what we were born to do." 

Sehun nods, and next to him, he sees the others nodding as well. 

"I understand," he breaths, "I was born for _something_."

He doesn't feel ready, and he doubts that any of them will ever truly feel ready. But Sehun has had already accepted himself as he is, and he is willing to give up even his beating heart.

➹➷

Days pass quickly in a flurry of a million pages of carefully written plans and carefully co-ordinated formations for them all.

Sehun knows that he will play a vital part in the success of every plan that they have drawn up. He is the only one with the power to keep the dragons at bay. They will approach from over the mountains and Sehun knows that he must will the wind into their the folds of their wings and use just enough power to keep them at bay without breaking their wings like he did to Yixing. It requires a painstaking amount of control and Sehun breaks Yixing’s wings twice more and Zitao’s wings once while practicing. Thankfully, he never manages to accidentally injure Wu Fan.

Chanyeol will be with Kyungsoo, on the ground in the main army. Joonmyun produced uniforms and armour out of seemingly nowhere the day before and had told them that they will stop the soldiers from advancing from within. Kyungsoo would part the earth to create a barrier if needed to prevent any soldiers from reaching the forest on the other side of the battleground and Chanyeol was there to protect the men from flames if any dragons broke through, and to protect Kyungsoo if he was caught.

“Sehun!” Jongin calls from the table. “Do you remember anything else about the army formations?”

“Why are you asking me?” Sehun calls back. “I never paid attention to that. Ask Joonmyun, he probably has them memorized.”

Someone laughs, and Joonmyun turns to scowl at him. “I do have the theoretical formations memorized,” he says, “but from what Kyungsoo has told me, the true formations of the army are completely different and I was never part of it.”

“Oh, is that so?” Sehun asks smugly. “There’s something that Joonmyun doesn’t know after all.”

“Just shut up and come over here.”

Sehun obeys with a smile on his face.

The smile is wiped off the moment he sees what is drawn on the paper in front of him. There is almost nothing that he understands.

It must have shown on his face because a moment later he hears Joonmyun speak to him, his tone as smug as Sehun had been a moment before. “Should have paid more attention in class Sehun.”

“What is this?” he asks blankly, picking up the parchment and trying to read it from all angles. “Are you sure this is what the army looks like?”

“Well, that’s what we were hoping you could tell us,” Jongdae remarks. “That’s what these guys said the formation looked like last time you went out to fight, but we’d like you to make sure it’s as accurate as possible. You were there too, weren’t you?”

Sehun flushes with embarrassment. “I think this is right?” he tries.

He’s about to put the diagram back down when something below it catches his eye; Zitao’s name on the parchment below. His arms freeze where they are, lowering the diagram back down on the table. Sehun scans the piece of parchment.

Zitao will also be on the battlefield. He’s with Lu Han. They have been assigned to remove any dragon who gets past Sehun and makes their way down to the battlefield. Zitao will stop time for a moment, and Lu Han will throw the dragon back up into the sky with his Gift.

It’s a dangerous job, and Sehun has heard that Zitao’s Gift is the most draining of all. Any time that he delays will come directly from his lifespan and while a dragon has a lifespan so long Zitao has assured everyone that he won’t even feel it, Sehun wants to make sure that he won’t need to use the power at all.

“Okay, you can put that down and go now,” Jongdae suddenly says, snapping Sehun out of his thoughts. “You can take your darling Zitao’s plan with you if you want to read it, just bring it back or else you’ll be rewriting it for us.”

“It’s fine,” Sehun snaps and drops the diagram in his hands before walking over to the exit. “I’m going out to watch the others train for a bit,” he announces.

“You go do that,” Jongdae replies.

  
➹➷

Nothing seems to go particularly fast until the night Yixing sprints inside, yelling for everyone to wake up in the middle of the night. It’s one of those rare few hours when everyone sleeps, between the latest of sleepers and the earliest of risers.

It’s strange for Yixing of all people, with his quiet laugh and soft voice to raise it in any situation and when Sehun wakes, it takes him a few panicked moments to realize that it’s only Yixing.

Someone pokes a head through the entrance. “Get up,” Wu Fan’s deep voice instructs. “Something’s happened.”

Sehun doesn’t give anything a second thought before he leaps up from his pallet, and heads out, footsteps swift, into the main cave where they would always gather. He’s not the first to arrive, but he’s not the last either. Those who are already there are already huddled around Yixing’s familiar figure.

“Yixing!” Sehun gasps, catching sight of the man. “What’s wrong?”

Yixing’s back is bent and he clutches his chest, panting. A bloody gash runs down the side of his arm.

“Nothing,” he gasps. He tries to smile but it comes out a grimace. “Tired, flew here.”

Wu Fan steps up, wrapping a large arm around Yixing and supporting him over to a chair. “Don’t talk now,” he says gently. “Rest for a bit, just until the others arrive.”

Everyone else files in quietly not long after. Some, like Sehun, gasp in shock at Yixing’s condition and others simply run to his side, concern in their eyes. Lu Han actually dares to bat Wu Fan’s hand away from Yixing in order to embrace him.

“Everyone’s here?” Yixing croaks. Sehun’s eyes flicker around, and he sees that the others do the same, silently counting.

“We’ve all here,” Wu Fan confirms.

“We need to act, fast,” Yixing says. His voice is still raw, and Wu Fan offers him water. Yixing smiles, but pushes the cup away. “I flew straight from the Capitol, and we don’t have as much time as we thought before they poison the river.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I heard them myself.” Yixing’s tone takes on a testy edge. “You would do well to remember what I sacrifice in the Capitol and what sort of people spill their secrets as they use me, Wu Fan.”

“You _what_?”

The meaning of Yixing’s words are clear, and from the reaction, Sehun realises that he isn’t the only one unaware of the life that Yixing had lead in the Capitol to collect information for them.

“You fucking bastard.” Lu Han rounds on Wu Fan, arms coming up the fist the front of the taller man’s tunic. “What the fuck did you tell Yixing to do in the Capitol?”

“Lu Han--” Yixing tries to interrupt, but Lu Han doesn’t hear. Or if he does, he ignores it.

“Are you really that cold Wu Fan?” Lu Han continues viciously. “Are you so desperate for knowledge and power that you would sacrifice even your friends for it?”

Wu Fan winces, but he does not back down. “I saw the need for information, and there was a way to it. Yixing agreed to it freely, I did not force him.”

“That’s because Yixing’s too fucking kind to say no, you fucking took advantage of him--”

“Lu Han, that’s enough.” Although still raw, Yixing’s voice is strong. “I knew you would be like this if I had told you, so I kept quiet. I agreed with Wu Fan, and I know that a small sacrifice on my behalf will help us all. And it has.”

“But--”

“That’s enough,” Yixing says again. “What has been done is over and now we must decide on a course of action for the future.”

Sending one last venomous glare at Wu Fan, Lu Han quietens but keeps a protective arm around Yixing. He hisses the moment Wu Fan tries to move closer.

“We’re moving everything forward,” Wu Fan decides. “We had thought that it would be a good idea to wait a little longer, plan and train but there’s no time. Yixing, how long do you think we have?”

“A week at the most.”

“Shit,” Jongdae whispers. “Shit, shit, fucking--”

“Jongdae, this is not the time,” Lu Han says quietly. “Calm down, I know you’re shocked but--”

“Shut the fuck up.”

The room goes silent. Sehun can almost hear the sound of his own breathing as he looks from Lu Han to Jongdae.

“You stand there with your arm around him, screeching so freely at Wu Fan for hurting your precious friend and you dare tell me to calm down?”

Joonmyun steps up, and reaches out to grasp at Jongdae’s hand.

“Jongdae,” he says quietly. “Don’t.”

“Don’t?” Jongdae hisses. “You heard him. The rivers are going to be poisoned in less than a week.”

“Wait, what’s going on?” Baekhyun’s voices his confusion, but it only adds the to tension. “Joonmyun’s just going to be cleaning out the river earlier isn’t he?”

Jongdae rounds on Baekhyun instead, and Sehun can see the anger burning in his eyes. Although Sehun had been wondering the exact same thing, his mind trying desperately to connect the dots, he now wishes the Baekhyun had kept quiet.

“Are you in denial,” he slowly asks, “or are you just really fucking stupid?”

Baekhyun’s eyes widen. “What’s wrong?” he says, sounding bewildered and offended at the same time.

“Nothing,” Joonmyun tries to say.

“Joonmyun will be draining enough poison to kill an entire nation and beyond from the river,” Jongdae answers slowly, each word dripping anger. “Where do you think the poison goes?”

Sehun launches, and he’s not the only one. Baekhyun goes white along with him, and his eyes widen.

“Th-that can’t be--”

“What can’t be?” Jongdae snaps. “I’m sorry if you think that this has just been one huge adventure but this is happening now and people are going to d--”

“Jongdae, you’ve made your point.”

Wu Fan speaks up again, and his dark eyes move from face to face illuminated by the flickering candles.

“Go back to sleep,” he finally says. “Perhaps we will all be calm when the sun rises. We can’t achieve anything like this, we will have to be calm when the sun rises.”

When Sehun lies back on his cold pallet, he closes his eyes. Sleep does not come easily.

  
➹➷

Sehun does not want to open his eyes, but the night before flashes in front of his closed eyes. His friends are willing to sacrifice, and they have sacrificed.

I’ve done nothing, Sehun thinks. All this time I thought I did well, I haven’t done enough. I haven’t even thought about what I can do with my own power.

It’s the least he can do to open his eyes, and so Sehun does, getting out his pallet and leaving the blanket folded on top. He knows that Kyungsoo folds them for him, but Kyungsoo should spend his time practising his gift, not folding Sehun’s blankets for him.

Sehun isn’t a child anymore, and he knows that now.

The main cave isn’t as empty as Sehun had expected when he steps into it. He knows that Zitao and Jongin are usually awake early in the morning, but he had not expected this.

A farewell gathering.

He watches silently from the back as Jongin and Kyungsoo embrace Joonmyun in turn and even Wu Fan steps up for an awkward embrace and a pat on the head. Zitao slumps as he sobs into Joonmyun’s shoulder.

Behind them, Jongdae and Minseok stand still.

It’s not until Joonmyun turns his back to him and starts to walk out that Sehun finds feeling in his two feet. “Wait!” the word bursts from his mouth, and he runs forward, hand somehow stretching out in front of him.

Joonmyun turns around, and he breaks into a teary smile. “Sehun,” he whispers.

“Why--” Sehun asks. “Why didn’t you tell us that you were leaving this morning?”

“Because I don’t want to say goodbye,” Joonmyun replies softly. “Because then I can believe that I’ll see you all again.”

Sehun feels the tears prickling at the corners of his eyes. “Don’t go,” he pleads in a spur of selfishness. What he asks is impossible, but Sehun still wishes.

Joonmyun smiles at him and Sehun knows that smile so well. It’s the smile that Sehun will always remember when he thinks of Joonmyun. Something wet trails down his cheeks.

“Farewell, Sehun,” he answers.

  
➹➷

Every minute begins to mean more to Sehun. It’s the effect of knowing that it may come to an end, Sehun thinks. Once, it had not mattered to him when he thought that they were invincible with an infinite amount of life left in them, but know he knows.

With every minute that he has to spend with Zitao, Sehun soaks in every second, every touch, every moment of contact. He commits them to memory because he fears that might be all the he’ll have left.

“What will you do, if I don’t come back?” Sehun asks.

It’s the night before the battle and they had all been allowed a break. “I guess you’re as good as you’ll ever be,” Wu Fan had said. “Spend time with those you love,” he had instructed over lunch. “Don’t go into battle tomorrow with too many regrets,” _Don’t die with too many regrets._

“You’ll come back,” Zitao answers. “We’ll both make it back.”

"But what if I don't?" Sehun asks again. "What if something happens and I die?"

The notion of death is no longer foreign to Sehun, even if it does still feel far away.

"I guess," Zitao frowns as he thinks. His arm sneaks its way around Sehun's waist to pull their bodies tight against each other. "I'll be sad, and I'll mourn for you, but no matter what happens, I'll live out my life to the fullest so when I join you at the end of my life, you can be proud of me and I can tell you about everything I've been able to do."

Sehun nods, and snuggles in further. "That's a good answer."

"Of course it is," Zitao laughs, rubbing the bottom of his chin on the top of Sehun's head. "I'm Zitao."

"Of course you are." Sehun laughs along with him, and he can hear their laughter so clearly tonight.

"Whatever happens tomorrow," Zitao whispers, his breath warm against the shell of Sehun's ear, "I will love you and always remember you."

Sehun shuffles back, and the cool night air brushes against his face. He keeps his arms wrapped around Zitao and lies on his side. This way, he can see every scar and wrinkle on Zitao's face. He can see the way Zitao's lips curve into a smile when he thinks of something happy, and the way he looks away to concentrate when looking for the right words.

"I'll never forget you," Sehun replies. No regrets, he hears a voice in his head say. Remember to leave no regrets.

"That's all?" Zitao teases. "Not even a kiss?"

"I'm trying to be serious here!" Sehun says, and he brings the hand trapped below Zitao's body up to punch his stomach lightly.

"Okay, okay," Zitao chuckles. "I'll be quiet."

Smiling in appreciation, Sehun moves to take Zitao's hand but Zitao is already a step ahead and he entwines their fingers. Sehun likes the comfort it gives him, to know that he's not alone.

"Before I loved you, I respected you. I was even a little scared of you," Sehun finally says. He's going to be completely honest and tell Zitao everything he's been keeping inside, too embarrassed to voice. "Before we loved each other, we were friends, weren't we?"

Zitao nods with a small, smile. He looks almost proud.

"No matter what happens tomorrow," Sehun continues, "I'll always want to treasure and remember memories of our friendship. Even if we survive tomorrow, I don't know if we'll be able to stay like this," he squeezes Zitao's hand, "forever."

"Of course," Zitao murmurs. "No one knows what will happen with time, not even I do."

"Even if we don't love each other when we're old, ugly and wrinkly," Sehun says. "I'll want to remember you. I'll want to remember our friendship most of all."

Zitao flips onto his back, but he keeps their fingers tightly entwined.

"Look up, Sehun," he whispers. "The stars are out."

Following Zitao's gaze, Sehun rolls onto his back too. The stars are indeed out, and shining so beautifully.

"It's like that day," Sehun whispers back.

"Except you didn't need to use your Gift this time."

Sehun smiles up at the night sky and allows his eyelids to flutter shut. Because tonight, there is only Zitao and their stars.

  
➹➷

The dawn of a new day comes slow. Sehun wakes on his own pallet back at home, his limbs tangled with Zitao's. He stretches and rubs his eyes.

Zitao raises his head. "Did you sleep well?"

"Really well," Sehun yawns and it's not a lie.

"Better have," Zitao grumbles at him playfully before poking in the chest with a single finger. "I had to carry you back after you fell asleep outside on the grass."

Sehun doesn't even flush. "Well," he replies haughtily, "it's only your duty."

"My duty?" Zitao replies, mock outrage and laughter in his voice. "I'll show you real duty."

And with that, he leaps on top of Sehun, trapping his thin body beneath. Sehun feels fingers move up and down his sides, tickling him mercilessly. He starts to laugh.

It's the morning of a battle, it's the day that a war older than Sehun will come to an end. But Sehun can't stop laughing and at this, Zitao begins to laugh as well. They are loud, boisterous and joyful.

"We'll, I hope that's not the only real duty you have," a voice remarks wirily from the entrance.

Zitao tumbles off both Sehun and the pallet in shock and Sehun scrambles into a sitting position.

"Wu Fan," Zitao whines. "We were busy. Why did you have to interrupt?"

"I'm afraid so," Wu Fan replies. "Get up, get ready. The army of men are getting into formation on the battlefield and they're planning to push into the forest if the dragons don't come."

"I'm ready," Sehun mutters as he stands up. "Let's go."

Sehun's about to follow Wu Fan out the exit when he feels a hand around his wrist. "Wait."

"What?" Sehun turns to face Zitao but is instead met with a pair of lips on his.

"We'll both make it out alive?" Zitao asks.

"We'll make it out alive," Sehun confirms.

It's a fragile promise.

  
➹➷

The wind drifts softly around Sehun. He stands just on the edge of the forest, facing the army of men.

They can see him, he knows. They are waving their hands at him, gesturing him over. They think he is a lost soldier and once, they would have been right. But not anymore.

Someone takes a step forward, breaking out of line. Sehun can see their division commander round on him, yelling at him to step back. The man points, craning his neck to see past his commanding officer on his war horse, straight at Sehun. The commanding officer turns, and he catches sign of Sehun; a boy standing just inside the shadows of the trees on land that men have never dared to venture into before.

Sehun hears him yell, pitching his voice so it carries. They're telling him to come back. Sehun doesn't move.

The commanding officer reins his horse and begins trot over, his face red with anger. Sehun looks away, at the sky,

He can hear the familiar trotting rhythm of the horse now, it coming closer and closer but Sehun doesn't back away. He can hear the commanding officer now, "What do you think you're doing on that side?" he's bellowing. "Get back in formation."

Then, the ground shakes below Sehun's feet. Kyungsoo.

The approaching war horse rears and bolts. When Sehun looks back across the battlefield again, the commanding officer is back on the other side, pointing at him and bellowing order. The archers ready their bows, and aim at him. Sehun only smiles.

"Sehun!"

Jongin appears next to him. "They're coming, over the mountain now."

"I understand."

Sehun begins to step out into the midmorning light. "Stay safe," he says.

"You too," Jongin replies. "I'll see you when this is over."

And then Jongin is gone again.

Sehun has figured out what he needs to do. While keeping the dragons at bay before they reach the battlefield, he needs to keep the strong around him in order to deflect any arrows aimed at him.

The wind begins to roar in his ears. He's standing in the middle of the field now, facing the mountain, waiting for the first of the dragons to appear. He knows from what Minseok had told them that more will be coming this time, more than has ever been seen. Through his wind, Sehun can hear the men talk and whisper at him, some even yell and curse.

He hears arrows being released. A moment later, he hears them all clatter to the ground around him.

The cursing continues, until they fade with the appearance of the first dragon in the sky. Sehun wonders if there's new recruits in their ranks. He wonders if they feel as he did the morning he first saw dragons. Confused, scared, and suddenly so homesick.

He hopes that they will never go through the pain of their first bloody, hopeless battle.

"They’re coming!" he hears someone screech from behind and Sehun's eyes snap back to the back.

One, two, then three; more and more dragons are appearing from behind the mountains and Sehun begins to draw his power from inside and around him and he waits, the wind harnessed inside, for the dragons to approach.

The wind behind him drops as he pushes it forward.

The first line dragons screech as they push forward, but are thrown back by the wind. They screech again and again, and Sehun covers his ears with his hands, directing all his strength in front of him.

He feels an arrowhead clatter to a stop at his heels.

The second line of attack arrives, and Sehun forces himself to focus. He holds them back. The screeching in his ears intensifies.

Something strong batters at his defences--he's losing strength, fast.

Looking up and around him, Sehun sees the sky littered with dragons of every colour, trying to break free of the wind. There's so many of them, and Sehun starts to gasp when he feels the pounding in his chest. He can feel them, pushing forward with all their power at once to break the barrier he's created to keep them out.

Blood rushes to Sehun's chest, it's beating too fast now. Sehun feels cold. The wind around him becomes quieter; it's dropping.

No, it's not.

Sehun can't breathe. All he can hear is the wind roaring again in his eyes. Defences are strong again, but Sehun gasps for air. He feels the wind draining his energy and he can't stand anymore and drops to his knees.

 _I need more energy,_ Sehun thinks. He wills himself to get back into his feet and to finish the job, but his hands shake even as he tries to push himself back onto his feet. _I need more power._

The world spins and spins and spins and Sehun stumbles and then--

the wind dies.

  
➹➷

Sehun wakes to screams, heat and the unmistakable stench of burning flesh.

“Fuck,” he gasps. Pain tears through his throat and he chokes, bracing himself with fingertips buried inside the dirt as he coughs and coughs.

“Sehun, you’re awake!”

Sehun feels a hand patting at his back. “Kyungsoo?” he asks. “Aren’t you supposed to be over there?”

“You collapsed,” Kyungsoo murmurs comfortingly. Sweat mixes with blood as it runs down the side of his face. “Chanyeol’s protecting us now.”

Looking around, Sehun realizes that they’re enclosed in a ring of fire. “But-- the soldiers? The dragons?”

Kyungsoo bows his head. “Chanyeol trying to protect as many as he can from the flames now,” he says simply.

Sehun squints pass the ring of fire.

It’s as if his first battle is repeating itself before his eyes. Soldiers run screaming from formation as dragonfire washes over them-- there are a few groups that remain intact and still under Chanyeol’s barrier but it’s a small portion of the whole.

The ground is black again, the grass which had begun to grow back burnt dead.

Corpses that lie still on the ground don’t scare Sehun, it’s the ones still alive. The ones which crawl desperately back, and the others which lie twitching on the dirt.

“I need to go back,” Sehun mutters to himself. “Or they’ll all die.”

“You’ll kill yourself,” Kyungsoo states. “You’ve used up all your energy. The wind will take too much energy from your life force.”

“I don’t care,” Sehun replies through gritted teeth. “It doesn’t matter anymore. As long as I can hold them back.”

“You can’t--”

“Yes, I can.”

Sehun pushes himself to his feet, and he looks up at the sky. Out of the corner of the eye, he thinks that he sees Wu Fan’s dragon form trying to deflect flames.

Then he sees Zitao, utterly spent. He’s leaning on Lu Han, clutching his chest as he stops time again and again for Lu Han to throw a few dragons back. It’s not working-- there’s too many dragons and they come back too fast. Zitao is tapping away at too much of his life.

 _I need more power,_ Sehun thinks. _I need more._

Something in his body snaps. Sehun feels as if something immense has been unleashed within him.

His vision blurs for a second and then it clears. He can see over the heads of a thousand soldiers and Kyungsoo is suddenly so small.

“Holy shit,” he reads on Kyungsoo’s lips.

Sehun opens his mouth, and he’s not human anymore. His roar cuts through the air like a beast’s.

The wind returns. Sehun can feel it’ it coils in his chest as he listens for it.

From a whistle to his sensitive ears, to a howl and to a roar, it returns to him like hound to a master. And suddenly, Sehun knows what to do.

He stretches his wing out behind him, and propels himself off the ground, taking flight to the sky he loves.

The wind comes with him and it pushes all that stand in his way from it. Arrows fall back to the ground before they have a chance to pierce his wings.

The rain of fire stops.

Sehun doesn’t know how long he circles the battlefield, holding his ground but all he can see are the dragons being pushed slowly back across the mountains.

They’re turning back.

Sehun feels something prod at his mind. _Sehun?_

It feels familiar, so very familiar.

_Zi…tao?_

He feels a soft warmth travel across the bond.

_It’s over. Come back. Come home._

And so Sehun does, the wind in his wings guiding him home.

  
➹➷

Sehun is human when he touches down. The smell of burnt flesh seems to have followed him back.

It gets stronger, the further in he goes.

A body, charred black, lies on the ground.

Baekhyun is kneeling next to it, and Zitao’s shoulders are shaking.

“Chanyeol…?”

  
➹➷

Minseok comes home two days later.

“We did it,” he says. “I froze the water and Joonmyun drew the poison out.”

“Jongdae?” Wu Fan asks, looking around questioningly.

Minseok smiles, his eyes bittersweet. “He’ll come home when he’s ready.”

  
➹➷

There are no celebrations.

  
➹➷

Jongdae comes home a month later and Sehun doesn’t think that he’s ever been more glad to see the man.

They’re still not close, but without him, nothing feels quite complete.

“Welcome home,” Wu Fan says carefully. “How do you feel?”

“I’d feel a lot better if you lost that tone. I’m not going to break down on the spot or anything,” Jongdae retorts sharply. “Only Zitao would do that.”

“Hey! I do not!”

Jongdae’s about to tease back when Baekhyun appears, looking more sombre than usual. It’s an expression that Sehun’s only come to know in these past few weeks.

“Baekhyun?” he asks quietly. “Do you want me to come with you?”

“I’m fine.”

It’s not until Baekhyun steps outside that Jongdae speaks up.

“Where’s Chanyeol?” he demands.

“He didn’t make it,” Yixing answers quietly. “I had tried, but he was beyond help when I got to him.”

“H-how?”

“We were out among the soldiers, shielding them from the flames,” Kyungsoo says softly. “Sehun had passed out and the dragons were attacking. Chanyeol shielded the soldiers from the fire.”

“How did he--”

“He pushed his shield so far to protect them that it no longer covered himself. Chanyeol burnt himself out. He had no chance on the battlefield without his Gift to help him.”

“Oh.” Jongdae falls uncharacteristically silent.

“But Chanyeol saved so many lives. The soldiers he shielded were the same age as us, boys who had a family to return to now have a long future in front of them.”

“I know.”

Yixing smiles gently at Jongdae. He walks over gracefully, and clasps Jongdae on the shoulder. “But you, Joonmyun and Minseok who were the ones who ultimately allowed it to happen,” he says. “Without the sacrifice you made, the land would be dead.”

Jongdae nods once. “I’ve thought about everything that has happened,” he finally says. “And maybe it was worth it.”

“Jongdae?”

“He wouldn’t have wanted us to mope over their deaths,” he says more confidently. “Neither of them would have wanted it.”

Sehun looks up at him, and his lips parts slightly in surprise.

“I’m going to live my life happily,” Jongdae announces. “Much happier than any of you. Because Joonmyun liked me happy the best.”

Someone chuckles, and Sehun follows along. He looks to the side and he sees a shadow just outside the entrance.

Baekhyun is standing outside, listening to every word. Sehun walks over to him.

“Baekhyun, are you okay?” Sehun asks quietly.

“No,” Baekhyun replies. “But I think I will be soon.”

  
➹➷

“Sehun, do you regret--” Jongin waves his hand around around, trying to indicate everything around them. The victories, the defeats, the change in themselves, “ _this?_ ”

“A bit,” Sehun replies. “How can I not? I keep thinking at night, sometimes, if we hadn’t done this--”

“Stop.”

Zitao joins them, sitting himself down on a patch of grass next to Sehun. He rests his head on Sehun’s shoulder. “We did what we had to. There’s no true victory in war, but we’ve succeeded in accomplishing what we set out to do.”

The war which had stretched generations is over, and villages were full of recovering men. Power had been stripped from the Capitol and was now distributed evenly across evenly across every territory of the nation. From each village, one man or woman would represent on a council for their district and each council would nominate a member to speak at a higher level gathering. The process would continue until the highest level of decision making was reached.

“We’ve won,” Sehun finally answers. “And I don’t regret that.”

Jongin looks thoughtful at his answer, but nods anymore.

Getting to his feet, Sehun pulls Jongin up by the elbow.

“Now up up up,” he orders. “Learn to transform before dawn or I’ll tell Kyungsoo that you don’t want supper.”

Jongin gets up onto his feet with a loud groan. “But--”

“No buts,” Sehun cuts in. Zitao laughs, and flips onto his stomach to watch Sehun’s newly found obsession of training Jongin into his dragon form.

“Whatever,” Jongin grumbles. “I’ll just take yours.”

“No you won’t.”

“Yes I will.”

“No you won’t.”

“Not if you transform.”

“Just. Give. Up!”

Sehun laughs, slinging a carefree arm around Jongin’s shoulders. He’s free, he’s home and he will never forget.


End file.
